New Mexico disallows second-party prescription pickups without I.D.

By Drew Buono

GALLUP, N.M. On Jan. 1, a law originated by the New Mexico state pharmacy board was put into effect that required anyone who picked up a prescription for someone else had to present a government issued photo identification, such as a driver’s license or an ID card, according to published reports. The law was created to stop fraudulent prescriptions from being filled.

One of the first people to be arrested under this new law was Michelle Florene Roan, who had attempted this stunt many times and had previously gotten away with it. She was arrested at a Wal-Mart pharmacy after coming in with a fake prescription for a narcotic.

Tom Ortega, a pharmacist at Trust Pharmacy is on the state pharmacy board that enacted this law. “We are a small pharmacy here in Grants, I know everyone who comes in,” Ortega said.

“If I don’t know them, or if they have a prescription from an out-of-state doctor, I contact the doctor’s office to see if it is good,” he said. The reason Roan probably selected Wal-Mart to try to get the drugs is it is located right next to Interstate 40 and is accessible to all the traffic and is very busy, Ortega said.

The new law is working so far; people trying to pick up prescriptions for other people has dropped by 70 percent.